Warehouse designs

1.      Introduction

Changing of warehouse designs is not a task you see every day. A thorough study on the current system is done to determine its weaknesses and strengths to ensure that the new, improved system will efficiently work while rectifying the mishaps that were experienced from the predecessor layout system (Mohsen and Hassan, 2002). The turnover process is prone to facing some problems. Some of the managerial issues accompanying the amendment are as stated below.

2.      Managerial Issues Expected During Rolling Out Of The New Design

First and foremost, issues are bound to arise when any new system is introduced. One should, therefore, not be dismayed when issues occur. They should instead be adequately prepared to combat the problems. Thus, a precise budget should be made while incorporating risks that may arise. Extra costs should also be expected on the items and staff that may be needed when the crisis arises. A risk analysis is, therefore, carried out during the rolling out of the system to be prepared for anything that could happen. The above issues were noted during the risk analysis. The most dominant problem that was noted is the costs incurred by setting up the latest equipment, changes in the layout, and the cost of labor (Golfarelli and Rizzi, 1999). More money will be needed, especially for employment because more laborers will be required because of the tight schedule and the maximum hours for a laborer to work 7.5 hours as stipulated by  C.B.S.

The workers should not be overworked, and they should get other workers to relieve them from their shifts. With the new system, the warehouse will be less mechanical and more automated. This may mean that more equipment for the automation to run smoothly may have to be added, and the cost of the equipment is quite expensive. Secondly, the change in layout would, therefore, mean that changes would be made in the positioning in the warehouse. Confusion will be experienced at first before the workers become accustomed to the new workspace layout (Perlmann and Bailey, 1988). A lot of effort will be taken to get basic tasks done because the workers will keep on confusing the different zones located in the warehouse. The workers might even carry out their duties haphazardly because of the changes in shifts and assigned tasks. More time will, therefore, be consumed in the whole process and the unloading and storage of the goods. More time would possibly mean a delay in the delivery of goods hence customer dissatisfaction since they get their items later than the agreed time. A tour on the premises and the new designs should be given beforehand to avoid such issues from taking place. Another issue that may arise is the inventory. Changes in the arrangement of the entire warehouse would necessitate changes in the entries in the catalog because some items were recorded to be in different isles in the catalog then the ones they actually are in (Golfarelli and Rizzi, 1999). The catalog helps in tracking the goods around the warehouse. This task will be impaled during the new system because some items may be misplaced during the process, or they may be recorded twice in the inventory, causing redundancy in the order, which would eventually lack credibility.

3.      Benefits of the Warehouse Design.

3.1 Door location

The warehouse layout design that was most appealing and the preferred choice is the u flow plan which entails that the doors are located on the same side the precise location of the doors ensures that the security of the goods is promised because there is close monitoring of the flow of the products in and out (Larson et al., 1997)

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3.2 Cost-effective

This type of design ensures that the available resources are utilized to the fullest. For instance, with the doors being located on the same side, this means that the docks for loading and offloading the items are similar and double docks on separate sides of the building do not have to be built

. At the same time, trucks used for carrying the goods in between the stages are properly utilized because the putting away and retrieval of products are carried out antagonistically at the same time, therefore, saving time since the products that are moved fastened are located closer to the docks(Larson et al., 1997)

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4.      How the Design Supports the C.B.S. Requirements

The design has clearly been thought through because requirements from the C.B.S. are met.

First of all, the aisle requirements in this design for the storage area for small items and the

slow-moving one meets the condition because it is at 16 meters.  Another thing is that all the

regions, receiving, storage, picking, marshaling, and despatch areas are arranged in a way that

will ensure that the throughout area is located at the end of the whole process close to the exits.

The exits have loading bays where the trucks are docked, making the final process of dispatch

quite easy. In addition to this, the pallets that have been installed in the medium and fast-moving

goods section can be manipulated easily to meet the height requirements of up to three racks.

The essence of this adjustable pallets is to facilitate smooth transportation of the goods along the

conveyor belt.

5.      Aspects of being Improved in the Design

One evident thing is that during the initial planning stages of the design, the architects did no put into consideration that temperature in the warehouse is crucial to avoid tampering and damaging of the goods while in storage upon waiting for transit to their desired location. Some sections of the warehouse may be used in storing items that may require dry conditions, while others may require a chilly state. The floor, wall, and ceiling may, therefore, need to be insulated (HUI et al., 2010). Water supply to the whole system should also be working efficiently to provide water when required. The pipes should be well installed to prevent leaks that may damage the equipment, cause power outages, or damage the goods.

6.      Recommendations

Various recommendations in a bid to improve and make the system efficient are as follows.

6.1 Automation

As stated earlier, problems with the inventory are experienced. These problems are imminent if the system only incorporates manual labor and mechanical assistance to get the work done. Man, as well as the machines, are prone to hitches caused by wear and tear. In order to take care of this problem concerning machinery, full automation should be used to eliminate these errors and increase the speed of the flow of goods. The machines should, however, be put under full scrutiny to ensure that they are in shape and are not going to break down any time soon.

6.2 Peak times

The warehouse may have to calculate their schedule during different times of the year; for instance, the peak season when the items passing through the warehouse are at the highest or while they are at their lowest. By doing so, they can exemplarily manage since they are prepared, and can even increase the labor during the hard times when they are understaffed. Congestion of goods will, therefore, be reduced, thus creating more space for incoming products.

6.3 Pollution

The number of greenhouse gases emitted from the warehouse may have to be closely monitored to avoid being on the wrong side of the law to prevent pollution of the environment. This is because every warehouse needs to be careful of the amount of carbon emissions being emitted. The only way this can be achieved is by ensuring that the vehicles being used on the premises are clean vehicles that do not emit smoke that causes decadence of the air. The workers around could also carpool to decongest the place as well as prevent pollution by smoke emissions from the vehicles they use (Gray and Williams, 1974). Pollution can also be countered by avoiding draining their waste into surrounding water bodies. The waste should also be discarded off properly. Materials that can be recycled should be recycled, while biodegradable waste should be disposed of nicely.

6.4 Energy consumption.

For every warehouse facility, a steady source of power is always recommended to avoid waste when the items are damaged. Most, if not all, of the equipment in the warehouse can only run on electricity. Some of the conditions required for storage, such as dry atmosphere and cold conditions (Mutlu Ozturk et al., 2019), can only be maintained using advanced technology dependent on electricity. If the source of power is cut off, the whole process of warehousing may be crippled. As many vast amounts of energy are needed by the warehouse, there is always a limit to everything (Ene et al., 2016). C.B.S. requires all warehouse facilities to monitor their energy consumption levels. For this purpose, the warehouse must set an energy consumption meter to prevent surpassing the maximum limit as well as save up on the amount of money required to run the warehouse spent on electricity bills.

 

7.      Improved Internal Layout

 

Figure 1 U flow throughout

Padding and insulation of the floor, roof, and ceiling.

 

 

 

8.      Improved External Layout

 

 

                                                           Figure 2 external layout

 

 

 

9.      Conclusion

To sum it all up, it is evident that changing a whole warehouse system requires careful planning to prevent incurring huge losses.  A design that stands out from the rest should be picked through a thorough study. The conditions that have to be considered before changing the designs are the cost, availability of space, and the topology of the land where the warehouse settles on. It is therefore recommended to periodically make changes in the future based on the C.B.S. warehouse requirements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

10.  Referencing

Ene, S., Küçükoğlu, İ., Aksoy, A., and Öztürk, N., 2016. A genetic algorithm for minimizing energy consumption in warehouses. Energy, 114, pp.973-980.

Golfarelli, M., and Rizzi, S., 1999. Designing the data warehouse: Key steps and crucial issues. Journal of computer science and Information Management, 2(3), pp.88-100.

Gray, T., and Williams, T., RIDERSAFE SYST Inc, 1974. Safety system for vehicles. U.S. Patent 3,838,748.

HUI, J., Liwei, L.L.R.F.B., and Jiamin, J.X.S., 2010. Grain storage by temperature control in large warehouses with dynamic heat insulation structure. Grain Storage, 2, pp.12-22.

Larson, T.N., March, H., and Kusiak, A., 1997. A heuristic approach to warehouse layout with class-based storage. I.I.E. transactions, 29(4), pp.337-348.

Mohsen and Hassan, M.D., 2002. A framework for the design of warehouse layout. Facilities, 20(13/14), pp.432-440.

Mutlu Ozturk, H., Dombayci, O.A., and Caliskan, H., 2019. Life-Cycle Cost, Cooling Degree Day, and Carbon Dioxide Emission Assessments of Insulation of Refrigerated Warehouses Industry in Turkey. Journal of Environmental Engineering, 145(10), p.04019062.

Perlmann, A.M., and Bailey, M., 1988. Warehouse logistic systems—A CAD model. Engineering costs and production economics, 13(3), pp.229-237.